Chapter 2

Layers of Tradition:Culture Regions at Different Scales

a people's way of life

their behavior

shared understanding of themselves

shared understanding of the world

a guide for how we act and interpret the world

(p. 34)

What is culture?

Figure 2.1 (p. 35)

Formal Functional

Perceptual

Regions

What formal, functional, andperceptual regions are we in?

Formal Functional Perceptual

Local

scale

National

scale

International

scale

Formal, Functional, or Perceptual?

park space usage

class-room

seating

pizza delivery areas

most common

with a meal

soda bottler-store

linkages

Vernacular Regions Figure 2.2 (p. 36)

Culture Regions

• Culture traits

• Symbols

• Regional identity (awareness of belonging to a group united in a common territory)

• Ways of life and the culture / landscape interface

map outlines

Cultural Symbols

flagsfrom

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

license platescourtesy of

http://www.worldlicenseplates.com/

plants & theirrepresentation

Cultural Landscape

• Cultural values and the landscape

• Symbols

• Regional identity

Cultural Landscapes

Downtown Milwaukee& Lake Michigan

LDS (Mormon)Meeting Houses

Snowflake, Arizona

Windmill and RestaurantThree Rivers, Texas

Cultural Landscapes Statue and HotelPuerto Penasco,Sonora, Mexico

~

Loess Hills of Western Iowa &Missouri River Flood Plain

Niagara Falls

Cultural Landscapes

Core / Domain / Sphereof a Culture Region

Figure 2.3 (p. 39)

Core

Domain

Sphere

Defining Culture Regions

NewHybridTrait

Distinct Culture A

Distinct Culture B

Syncretism

Name That Key Term

An area defined by subjective perceptions that reflect the feelings and images about key place characteristics. When these perceptions come from the local, ordinary folk, a ________ region

can be called a vernacular region.

PerceptualRegion

A region created by the interactions between a central node and

surrounding locations.Functional Region

An area of near uniformity (homogeneity) in one or several characteristics.

An area characterized by similarity or by cohesiveness that sets it

apart from other areas.Region

Formal Region

An awareness of being a part of a group of people living in a culture region. Regional Identity

A region defined by similar culture traits and cultural landscape features. Culture Region

Modifications to the environment by humans, including the built

environment and agricultural systems, that reflect aspects of their culture.

Cultural Landscape

A defining characteristic of the culture that is shared by most, if not all, members.

The shared understandings that guide behavior and values and condition a

group’s perception of the world. Culture is learned from one generation to the

next and evolves over time.

Culture

Culture Trait

A material object that represents some greater meaning or refers to something else.

Symbol

The fusion of two distinctive cultural traits into a unique new hybrid trait. Syncretism

The area outside of the core of a culture region in which the culture is

still dominant but less intense.Domain

The zone of outer influence for a culture region.

The zone of greatest concentration or homogeneity of the culture traits

that characterize a region.Core

Sphere

The traditional symbiotic relationship among villages, cities, and nomadic tribes in the

Middle East, in which villages grow irrigated crops, cities provide the central mosque and bazaar, and tribes herd livestock and provide

transportation and protection.

EcologicalTrilogy

Layers of Tradition:Culture Regions at Different Scales

Chapter 2

Case Study

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Evaluate map layers using a geographic information system (GIS).• Define the core of a culture region on the basis of three characteristics.• Define the domain of a culture region based on the degree of agreement between culture trait boundaries.• Discuss the history and geography of the Middle East and/or American Southwest.• Identify the cultural traits that make your subregion distinctive versus those that are shared with the entire North American culture region.• Recognize symbolism as it is used to promote regional identity.• Recognize that regional imagery often promotes one group’s identity while excluding that of others.

• Media stereotypes and perceptions

• Terrorism and U.S. armed intervention

• Fertile Crescent and empires

• Judaism and Islam

• Ecological Trilogy

• Natural landscapes

• Colonialism

Activity 1: The Middle East

Figure 2.6 (p. 42)

Fertile Crescent

Figures 2.4, 2.7-2.10 (pp. 40 & 43-44)

Online Activity

• Vegetation and climate

• Topography and physiographic provinces

• Three cultures:- Native American- Hispanic- Anglo-Americans

• Economy

Activity 1: The American Southwest

Figure 2.12 (p. 45)

Physiographic Regions of the Southwest

Figures 2.11, 2.13-2.15 (pp. 44-46)

Online Activity

(p. 53)

Activity 2: Culture Traits ofYour Culture Subregion

Activity 3: Regional Imagery

How are these postcards similar to or different from

contemporary postcards which portray your local region?